When forming a wellbore, a hole-opener can be included with a drill string uphole of a drill bit. The hole-opener widens the wellbore during the drilling process, while the drill bit forms a pilot hole. In some instances, a separate trip can be performed with a larger drill bit to widen the wellbore. Hole-openers can be solid pieces or actuate-able devices. An actuate-able device includes members that can extend outward from a string and into the wall of the wellbore. Both solid devices and actuate-able devices can include roller cones configured to crush rock within the wellbore, polycrystalline diamond compact cutters configured to scrape layers of rock within the wellbore, or a combination of the two.